Argenteus Crassus
Master of Shadows Crassus is the supreme overlord of the Shadow Reavers warband, leading the Chaos Space Marines for centuries. Taciturn and solemn, he seldom appears among his men and leaves the warband’s day-to-day affairs to the care of the Shadow Lords, as most of his days are spent in contemplation and planning for the future of the Long War. Only the direst battles will require the Master of Shadows' personal involvement. History Crassus was born on the planet of Igan, the Homeworld of the Shadow Griffons chapter of Space Marines. Taken in as an initiate, immediately he took to the Griffons' geneseed and its flaw: within hours, his implanted Lyman's Ear malfunctioned, amplifying all sounds that would reach his ears, rendering them unbearably and painfully loud. Yet Crassus acclimated fast and used his new found super-hearing to great effect in stealth work. He advanced through the ranks quickly, immediately developing a penchant for tactical thought. His strategic acumen came into early recognition while he served as a Scout in the chapter's 10th Company when, utilizing his own initiative and despite his sergeant's orders, Crassus planted charges on an Ork weapon manufacturing compound on Planet 456-C while scouting behind enemy lines. The intensity of the chain reaction that followed the detonation seemed to the Orks like an assault by a full force, and the xenos sent major parts of their battle line to cover their rear. There was no such force of course, and fighting a divided enemy, the main Griffons battle line managed to overwhelm the alien, resulting in total victory. Advancing further into the chapter's ranks, Crassus made his way into its veterans and soon enough was given leadership of a 1st Company squad of his own, leading the chapter's elites. Freely he served with other Companies however, willfully being seconded to share his skills with the rest of the Griffons, becoming extremely popular with many of his battle brothers. He became widely known among the chapter for his untiring loyalty to the men under his command, never letting a single one die a needless death and personally aiding those in mortal danger. The Vindication Crusade In 899.M36, a space hulk carrying Waaagh! Gorbathrakka entered realspace above the chapter's homeworld of Igan, destroying a Shadow Griffons Strike Cruiser as it passed, disappearing soon after into the Immaterium. Enraged, the Shadow Griffons declared the Vindication Crusade, a 100-year conflict of hunting down the Waaaagh! to its last Ork. In the last battle of the Crusade the Shadow Griffons finally cornered Warboss Gorbathrakka on an asteroid east of the Noxias system. The first, second and fourth Companies were deployed as spearhead, striking directly at the aliens' headquarters. Emerging suddenly from the inner factories, Warboss Gorbathrakka sallied forth on top of an Ork Stompa. The war machine ravaged through the ranks of the Griffons, and in the devastation Master of Shadows Constantinus lost his life. First Shadow Captain Germanicus, along with Vanguard squad Crassus, retreated secretly from the battlefield as the rest of the Griffons staved off the Ork horde, requesting immediate Thunderhawk pickup. The transporting gunship fired its way deeper into the Ork lines and passed over the monstrous engine. At that moment, Germanicus and squad Crassus descended on jump packs on top of the Stompa. The battle was long and hard, but the assaulting Griffons managed to finally end Gorbathrakka's reign. Setting melta charges onto the machine, the remaining Vanguards flew off as the titan exploded into scrap. Losing their leader as well as their war engine, the Orks lost heart and were soon slaughtered to the last, thus ending the Vindication Crusade. Germanicus replaced Constantinus as Master of Shadows, and Crassus now took his place as First Shadow Captain. Into the Abyss During the Invasion of Rhiadan of 318.M37, Master of Shadows Germanicus was felled by Eldar Corsairs. Donning the panoply of the dead Chapter Master, Crassus took his place to great cheer, and finally became the leader of the Shadow Griffons in their entirety. Yet his reign was short-lived, for only several years later the chapter's homeworld of Igan was lost to Warp storm Dionys. What was worse, the Griffons were summoned by the Ecclesiarchy, and Crassus knelt before the High Ecclesiarch Saint Basilius. His chapter, along with many others, were branded impure and ordered to undertake a penitent Crusade through the Eye of Terror or perish. Gathering what remained of his chapter, Crassus and the Griffons made way through the Cadian Gate. Immediately they were assailed by the Arch Enemy, their forces decimated. The Battle Barge Caliginis Rex was the only surviving vessel of their fleet. Yet Crassus bade the 100 men left under his command to press on, even as their geneseed flaw worsened under the Warp's fell power. World after world the Griffons made planetfall, purging the daemon-infested abodes of the Eye of Terror in campaigns of terrible fighting, and with each engagement the amplified senses became stronger and more maddening. The Griffons were courting insanity. Finally, 66 years later, they had reached the Black Planet. An orb of celestial black, the planet exuded a warp aura of sensory deprivation. For the first time, Crassus and his Griffons found peace from their flaw, for no longer did the slightest whisper echo loudly and unbearably in their head. Yet in the silence a voice wormed its way into Crassus's mind, demanding. It was the voice of the Black Prince, ruler of the dark place. He promised a piece of the planet's power to the Griffons, should they swear fealty to his lord Slaanesh. The Daemon Prince whispered of battles to come, events in the far future, of his men victorious and avenging. They seemed different; broken and warped into twisted things, yet he knew they were his battle brothers, and he loved them nevertheless, knowing the daemon's words were true. Crassus renounced the Emperor as False, and so did his brothers. No longer were they the Griffons. Black slivers emanating from their forms, hiding them from sight and turning them into the perfect infiltrators, the Shadow Reavers left the Black Planet, ready to wage war against the Corpse Imperium. Appearance and Personality With a visage that is gaunt and cadaverous, Argenteus Crassus's skin is pale white, with eyes complete coal. His long straight hair is of a similar dark colour, for that is the mark of the raven, the flaw that plagues all the successors of the Raven Guard. Carved into his skin are the points of a Chaos star, and on his forehead he bears a tattooed mark of Slanesh. Behind the black wisps of Warp-darkness that emanate from his body he stands sombre and dismal-looking, exuding an aura of grim certainty and uninviting bleakness. This hasn't always been the case; yet as time goes on the paleness of Crassus's skin seems to take on a sickly hue even while sporting the alabaster white of his warband. Day by day his cheeks sink into his skull as if the Master of Shadows is wasting. Solemn and taciturn, Crassus is a man of little words. His love for his battle brothers is his paramount quality, and a highly obsessive streak manifests itself within any planning work he partakes of, for he could not bear to give anything less than a perfect battle plan to the Reavers. Many times this obsessive compulsion for perfection in planning leaves him slow to react, prone to overthinking and over-analyzing. Luckily, the Shadow Lords' own initiative counteracts his indecisiveness. Though he has nothing but affection for his men, Crassus seldom appears among them and leaves the warband’s day-to-day affairs to the care of the Shadow Lords, as most of his hours are spent in contemplation and planning for the future of the Long War. But as time goes on Crassus grows ever more morose and withdrawn, cloistering himself for months on end in his own quarters. Here he plans and reflects. It is said quarreling voices are often heard from within as Crassus consults his prescient daemonic familiar Dructis. Skills and Equipment Bearing the Black Planet's gift, Crassus's shape is hidden beneath dark miasma, making him a competent infiltrator. Utilizing the warband's geneseed flaw that leaves them with super-sensory hearing, Crassus's awareness of the battlefield around him is bar none, and it is said he can hear even the minutest detail of a fight and react accordingly, a skill honed through centuries. Although a capable fighter, as any Astartes of his rank would be, this is where Crassus's true skill lies: command. His powers of cold calculation and preternatural sense manifest themselves into a vast tactical skill, noticing and predicting larger patterns as they occur and developing grand strategies in response. His men follow without question, for they cannot doubt the unerring acumen of their Master of Shadows. An imperious presence, Crassus bears the splendid Armour of Germanicus, the ancient artificer suit of his predecessor, now damascened, warped and twisted by the power of the Immaterium. A long, purple cape flows from its black form, as well as the exotic skin of some felled beast. A Sigil of Corruption adorns its backpack. A baroque relic subsonic blaster with an in-built power axe, created specifically by the Krypteian Techarchy, is his weapon of choice. The sonorous armament blasts the vicinity with murderous infrasonic energies below the hearing capacity of the mortal man, yet no less destructive for it. Crassus brandishes also a gilded bolt pistol as a sidearm, as well as Remembrance of Ravendelve, the only chapter relic to escape destruction at the hands of Warp Storm Dionys; it is a master-crafted lightning claw from the early days of the Shadow Griffons said by some to have seen that ancient war, though no such claims could be corroborated. Manifesting randomly by his side is Dructis, a small daemonic familiar and a gift from the Black Prince. It is said Crassus uses the small daemon’s prophecies to fashion strategies spanning centuries, plans of intricate and minute detail, ambushes and wars far into the future. It matters not whence the plan is manifested however, for when the word comes down from Crassus's cloister, the Reavers follow without question. Category:Chaos Space Marines Category:Chaos Category:Chaos Characters Category:Chaos Lords Category:Slaanesh Category:Chaos Space Marine Characters